GOP can't be blamed for everything

Tuesday

May 6, 2014 at 2:00 AM

I read Dave Potter's April 29 letter, "Let the voter beware to 'our political lexicon," with interest. It was an unvarnished diatribe against the GOP. Simply put, he says that if something has anything to do with the GOP, it is bad. I wasn't impressed with it, but this is America and he is entitled express his opinions, whatever they may be.. Nevertheless, I'd like to respond to a few of his "talking points".

To the Editor:

I read Dave Potter's April 29 letter, "Let the voter beware to 'our political lexicon," with interest. It was an unvarnished diatribe against the GOP. Simply put, he says that if something has anything to do with the GOP, it is bad. I wasn't impressed with it, but this is America and he is entitled express his opinions, whatever they may be.. Nevertheless, I'd like to respond to a few of his "talking points".

Firstly, he addressed one of the major items on President Obama's agenda — raising the minimum wage. Potter stated, —»but it would be the first time a raise in minimum wage has caused the loss of a lot of jobs," referring to the GOP prediction that is what would happen if such a law was enacted. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the people who actually "crunch" the numbers, predict that the passage of such a law will result in the loss of 500,000 jobs. Seems to me that 500,000 jobs is a "lot" of jobs. Does Mr. Potter have a rebuttal?

Then, he addressed the unequal pay for men and women issue. I'm not really sure that I understand what he's talking about. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA) has been the law of the land for more than 50 years. The fact that it may not have been uniformly enforced certainly can't be blamed on the GOP. The Democrats have been in power for the last five years and, up to the present, they've done nothing about it.

Finally, Potter got to Obamacare (ACA), though he emphasized that his comments were slanted toward women. He cherry-picked and listed several of the positive aspects of the law, but avoided all of the negatives. For example, ACA will take $716 billion — yes, I said billion — from Medicare funds. Perhaps he can explain what effect that will have on the amount and quality of health care that all seniors, including women, will receive in the future? Incidentally, I am a senior and I have a strong interest in this matter. Then, there's the clear possibility that, under ACA, many people, including women, will not be able to continue long-time relationships with their doctors and their sources of health services. Also, consider that both ACA insurance premiums and deductibles will go up, resulting in increased costs to individuals, and there will be more taxes to subsidize the whole mess, none of which can be attributed to the GOP.

Irving W. Glater

Exeter

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